Improvement in the manufacture of resin-soap



UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

DUDLEY B. CHAPMAN, or new LONDON, oonnnortour.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 106,322, dated August16, 1870.

To all whom it may concern: 1 Be it known that I DUDLEY B. UHAPMANQlately of the city and county of Providence, in the State of RhodeIsland, but now of the;-

city and county of New London, in the State: of Connecticut, havediscovered and invented; a new and useful Improvement in the Mann-5facture of Soap; and I do hereby declare that; the followingspecification is a full, clear, audi exact description thereof.

My invention consists in an improvement in}: the manufacture-0t soap,which resides in sa-g ponifying or saturating colophony or gum-resinwith a crystallized carbonate of soda dis-j solved by heat in its waterof crystallization, and afterward mechanicallyincorporating saidsaponified or saturated resin into and with a g soap made by any of theusual processes known to the trade while the soap is in a fluid or;pasty condition.

To-enable others skilled in the art to make? 7 use of my invention, Iwill proceed to describei the method of saponifying or saturating the;

resin, and of afterward incorporating it with;

soap. 1 In the first place I pnlverize the resin byl any convenientmeans as finely as possiblel The finer it is pulverized the better. NextI E dissolve the soda by heat in its water of crys-f tallization. (Asmall quantity of water may; be added to assist in dissolving the soda;but; it is not essential.) As soon as the soda isi dissolved, I nextincorporate with it abouti five per cent. of its weight (more or less)of starch or analogous substances wet in its; weight of water ofdissolved soda. Next I, add a small quantity of the pulverized resin;keeping a steady heat under the kettle, and; keeping the wholeconstantly stirred until thei resin melts. As fast as the resin melts Iadd? more, and continue the operation until I have; the requiredquantity, taking great care that the heat at no time is raised above 96centigrade.

After the resin is melted and thoroughly combined with the soda the massshould be strained through a sieve while hot, to remove. any impuritiesthat the soda or resin may have contained, after which it is'ready foruse at any time it may be required.

If the manufacturer elects, he may omit the "in damp weather.

starch or analogous substance in preparing the saponified resin withoutimpairing its detergent quality; but when the starch isomitted the soapproduced by the use of my saponified resin sometimes has a stickysurface To prevent this the starch is used.

If the soap'with which I intend to incorporate the saturated orsaponifi'ed resin is so manufactured that it would possess an ordinarydegree of firmness when cooled and cut into bars without the addition ofthe saturated resin, I use one pound of soda to saturate one pound ofresin.

lf the soap into which I intend to incorporate it is so manufactured asto have less than an ordinary degree of firmness when cooled and cutinto bars without the additionof the saturated resin, I use relatively alarge proportion of soda in saturating the resin, being careful not touse enough to produce efflorescence on the soap producedby theincorporation. Therefore I would not in any case advise to use more thanone and onethird pound of soda in saturating onepound have becomecompletely incorporated and the mixture presents a homogeneousappearance. Ithen frame it, and when properly cooled I cut it into barsfor the market. The mean temperature at which the soap should be framedmay usually be found somewhere between 60 centigrade and 80 centigrade.A soap containing alarge per cent. of resin'in its original composition,or before my saturated resin is added, should be framed at the lowertemperature, and the temperature of framing should be increased as thepercentage of resin in the original soap is diminished.

If the soap with which the saturated resin is incorporated istechnically known as settled, pitched, or fitted soap, the addi tion ofthe saturated resin rendersit very stiff and pasty, and after the soapis cooled and cutinto bars it is much firmer than it would have beenwithout the addition of the satuv or- -agen tinto the soap.

' .ofztallowl would not recommend to incorporate more than. one part ofthe saturated resin; A m ore highly resined .to. three parts of soap.soap should have less of the saturated resin incorporated with it, whilea soap containing much less resin in its original composition may a haveone part of the saturated resin incorporated with-two parts of the soap.

The advantages of my invention are; t :First, all soaps produced by theaddition, of my saturated resin ormcompound, excel the lower-grades ofcurd or boiled-down soap, are

rendered harder or firmer by such addition. Second, it requires a largerquantity ofcarbonated alkali than of caustic alkali to saturate orsaponify a given quantity ofue sin; hence saturating my resin witha,carbonvatedsoda-lintroduce a larger quantity-of alkali-which is thereal detergent principle,

. -:Third, this alkali, being tii'st neutr alized.

with. carbonic acid, and, secondly, saturated.

with the resin, is rendered entirely innocuous, and will not injurethemost delicate fabric.

Fourth,-the alkali being first neutralizedfby carbonicacid,-.and,secondly, saturated with :resin-, -the soap containing it is moreeas'ilydecomposed. :Therefore it will be found that soaps containing mycompoundyield a more copious lather and possess better detergentproperties than soaps which do not contain it.

..Fifth,'as before stated, because of. the pres- .ence of the carbonicacidina carbonate of soda, it requires .a much larger quantity ofcarbonate of soda than of caustic sodato sat-,

urateor saponify a givenamount of resin.

Thereforeevery pound of resin yields, by, my process,about two poundsofsoap, whereas by the usual method of saturating with a caustic alkali ityields only about one and a halt"; pound of soap. I

Sixth assuming the average cost price of Q thebest grades of resin soap.to be fromseven. toieight cents per pound, the cost. of my compound,labor included, will not exceed three cents per ponnd. Thereforesoapscontaining my compound can be manufactured from ten to fifteen per cent.cheaperv than by any-other method employed to produce soaps of equalquality.

I do not claim either of the substances employed in the preparation ofmy compound as an ingredient in the manufacture of soap.

I am aware that the saponification or saturation of resin with acarbonate of soda in the manufacture of soap is no novel invention;

but, as far as I am informed on the subject, this has been accomplishedin the boiling or pan or kettle during the earlier processes ofmanufacture, and before what is technically known as the strengtheningor final change of lye. During the boiling on this strengthening changeit is customary to remedy any imperfect saponification that may haveoccurred in any of the previous changes by adding caustic lye until thesoapexhibits the required test of strength by. its ca-nsticaction .onthe tongue of the manipulator. Resin saponified with an excess ofcarbonated alkali has no caustic action on the tongue, while theslightest excess of caustic alkali is readily perceivedby the taste. Acaustic alkali has also a much stronger affinity for resin, thancarbonated alkali possesses. Thereforeit willexpel the latter from itscombination with resin and usurp its place. I o s U Bythe mode hithertoadopted of saponifying resin witha carbonated soda or other alka li, andafterward, strenghtening it with a caustic alkali, the required test ofstrength was not exhibited until all the carbonated al- .kali-hadbeenexpelled from the combination and wasted in the exhausted lyes,'therebymaterially increasing the cost of thesoap, For thisand otherreasons the saponitication of resin with a carbonate of soda has been,as far as'my knowledge extends, universally abandoned. Therefore I donot claim thesaponificationor saturation of resin with a carbonate ot'sodaor soda-ash. v I

.By mymethod the soap is made and ,otherwise finished before addingtheresin which has been saponified with a carbonated soda.

Therefore there is no danger that the carbonated soda will be expelledfronra combination with the soap by coming in contact with a freecaustic alkali. a

-What I. claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,isv I The improvement in the] manufacture of soap which consists in theemployment of a saponified resin com pound prepared withcrystallized-carbonate of soda, substantially asidescribed, andmechanically incorporating the same with the soap while in a fiuid orpasty condition, as herein specified.

DUDLEY B. CHAPMAN.

Witnesses GEORGE-T. Bizoxwirn,

BENJAMIN P. WATROUS.

